


nothing appears to be what it really is as we believe in the illusions

by gwenoakley



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bring tissues, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, I LOVED this scene and I wanted to add my own twist to it, I really tortured Peter in this one, Irondad, Peter Parker Deserves Better, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie) Spoilers, This is really gonna hurt, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Traumatized Peter Parker, Whump, i'm sorry y'all, illusion Michelle Jones, illusion Nick Fury, illusion Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 21:33:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19732186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwenoakley/pseuds/gwenoakley
Summary: Spider-Man: Far From Home spoilers!!! Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled.Quentin Beck wants Peter to suffer, to destroy him until there's nothing left. And what better way to break him than to bring his idol back?





	nothing appears to be what it really is as we believe in the illusions

**Author's Note:**

> hi y'all! so that illusion scene in FFH was actually stunning and immediately gave me an idea on how to torture peter even more. i hope i did that scene justice.
> 
> (title taken from "the holographic principle" by epica.)
> 
> some of this story is taken straight from the movie. so, anything you recognize isn't mine - i'm just torturing peter for a bit.

Maria fades first.

Fury's head snaps around, gasping as his agent fades into nothing. "Hill?" he exclaims.

Everything else is fading, too - the building, the other agents, revealing the bare skeleton of an abandoned parking garage. Only Peter and Fury remain.

He swallows, watching everything sink away. "It's just an illus--!"

A shot rings out before he can finish his futile assurance, blasting past him and hitting Fury square in the chest. The impact knocks him back into the wall and he falls, unconscious on the dirty concrete floor.

"Fury!" he screams. He whirls around, goggles back in place, only to find himself staring directly at one of the drones. It aims for him, now, and he's shot in the stomach, thrown back until he's falling through the empty beams. He lands on his stomach another floor down and groans, a hand pressing to his wound.

 _Wow, Peter, wow._ Mysterio's voice rings out, echoing through his mind, so loud it's all Peter can focus on. Coughing, he forces himself to his feet. _I thought we were close._ His looks down at his hands, expecting to see them covered in blood, but finding nothing. _Fury always had to die,_ Mysterio continues, almost conversationally, _but not you._

A green dot appears on his chest, right above his heart. Multiple drones gather around him, each one pointing a laser at him. _Ready to fire._

"Stop hiding, Beck!" he screams. He's weak, he tells himself. Without EDITH, without whatever tech he's using, he's just a guy. He's hiding because he's _scared._ Because he knows he can't face Peter alone.

But even he knows that's not true, no matter how hard he tries to get himself to believe it in that moment.

He webs the drone in front of him, but they don't stick; instead, the drone fades away. _Another illusion._ Slowly, the rest of the drones do as well. _I tried to help you walk away,_ Mysterio continues, and he sounds almost _hurt._ _Now you're making me do this!_

And then the parking garage is fading, too, until it's nothing but darkness stretching as far as Peter can see. When it fades completely, so does his suit, transforming back into the suit Mr. Stark gave him after Germany. Overhead lights come on, casting an eerie glow through wherever he is now. Mysterio stands in front of him, in his complete suit, green smoke covering the floor. Lockers line up on the side, trapping them. _You told me you were just a kid._ Frantic, Peter tries to web him but it's only more of that green smoke that comes out of the shooters instead. He stares at them in confusion, but he doesn't have time to waste wondering what he did to his suit.

 _You told me you were gonna run after that girl._ In the blink of an eye he vanishes, only to appear behind Peter in the next second. He spins around to punch Mysterio in the face but his helmet changes into a slab of concrete right as his knuckles connect. The impact has him crying out in pain, almost dropping to his knees.

"Help me!" someone screams out in the distance, and he gasps, staggering upright again. _He knows that voice._

"MJ!" he cries, following her voice. He slams into one of the locker doors with all his weight to shove it open - it gives way and he rushes through, but he skids to a halt when he realizes he's about to fall off the edge of... _The Eiffel Tower?_

It's hazy, surrounded by that green smoke again - which means Mysterio is close - but it's still the iconic landmark. _Where he was going to kiss MJ._

He looks down as the locker door falls into the abyss, but a familiar voice snaps him back to reality. "Peter?"

MJ stands just a few feet away from him, looking horrified. "What's going on?" she cries shakily.

Peter holds his ground. He won't let Beck do this. "I know this isn't real!" he yells out. _Show yourself, you coward!_

Mysterio's voice comes back then, so loud it's almost painful. _Do you, though?_ He materializes behind MJ, wrapping his hands around her neck and lifting her up. She chokes and struggles, gasping, her eyes on Peter the entire time.

"MJ!" Peter cries. He can't help it. This time he does rush forward, his fingers barely grazing her sleeve as Mysterio drops her over the edge. He immediately launches himself off the ledge after her, falling through the smoke, her scream still echoing - but he hits the ground, hard, before he can save her.

He staggers to his feet. _I don't think you know what's real, Peter,_ Beck taunts. 

He barely has time to catch his breath before he's being shot backwards, flying down a New York street surrounded with blinding green lights that streak through his vision. When he stops again, he's staring up at a brick building that has a giant neon sign with QUEENS in huge letters. He blinks, confused, just as Mysterio's gloved hand punches through the door, throwing him backwards. He hits a wall which shatters into glass on impact, dropping him into another realm of darkness. He falls through an endless maze of tangled green spider webs, until suddenly, one of them opens up back into... _reality?_

He screams when he falls on top of a car, destroying the windshield. He looks up, frantic, at the dusty, old parking garage, and trembles with relief when he realizes he's out of the illusion. _But where did Beck go?_

He can't let his guard down, not now. He clambers off the car, falling onto the ground and weakly trying to crawl backwards. Forcing himself to his feet again, he gasps loudly and spins around, making sure Beck isn't going to sneak up on him somehow. He doesn't see anything, and he cries out in relief, but the sudden sound of breaking glass has him on red alert again.

His head snaps up. The sky is fading, back into all-consuming blackness, and he sees another line of drones, but even those change into giant shards of glass, sharper than knives, falling, aimed straight for him. He ducks, trying to dodge them, but all they do is trap him in a makeshift cage.

Bewildered, Peter stares at one of his many reflections. Even though he's back in the illusion, it's eerily silent. Tentatively, he reaches a hand out to one of them, and Mysterio's voice cuts back into his subconscious. _I mean, look at yourself,_ he snarls. Peter yanks his hand back as fast as he can, but it's too late. The reflection jumps out, attacking him, and the others join, beating him, piling on top of him. He can feel every punch, every kick, every bone being snapped, and there's nothing he can do as they keep multiplying. _Just kill me!_ he screams out in his head. _Isn't that what you wanted? Just kill me!_

 _You are just a scared little boy in a sweatsuit!_ Mysterio accuses, and all the reflections vanish, leaving Peter alone, back in the original suit he made, right after he got bitten. Green smoke curls around his legs, wafting into his nostrils. He almost chokes on it.

 _I created Mysterio to give the world someone to believe in!_ Beck yells, as the smoke evaporates, giving way to a stone memorial. _I control the truth! Mysterio is the truth!_

Peter looks up, only to see a giant, larger-than-life statue of Mysterio in his suit. Like something people would make for a fallen hero, even though Beck is anything but.

He's still staring at it when Mysterio drops down behind him, a laser aimed straight for him. He jumps out of the way before the blast can hit him, flipping back over a boulder. The blasts continue as Mysterio flies around, trying to get him, but Peter doesn't stay still long enough. He races over the stones, flipping and dodging every attack that's thrown at him, until he finally stops momentarily to web Beck, who's now hovering above him. The webs attach - _not an illusion!_ \- and he pulls them back, ready to bring him down, but as soon as he does, he changes into a giant metal beam that falls. Peter barely falls out of the way before it hits him, and he quickly looks back up to see Mysterio flying again, ready to fire. He runs again, and a blast hits just a few inches besides him, changing into a thick plume of smoke. A stone fist, like the one in the statue, is suddenly towering over him, and even that tips forward, before Peter has a chance to move. He screams, falling to the ground and covering his head, but the stone just fades into smoke.

Peter sits up, slowly, when he doesn't feel anything. But he's greeted by a sight much worse than anything Mysterio has thrown at him so far when he looks up.

Anthony Edward Stark, the tombstone reads.

 _Mr. Stark,_ Peter thinks, choking on a sob.

 _If you were good enough,_ Mysterio hisses in his ear, _Maybe Tony would still be alive._

And then, all at once, everything vanishes. The tombstone, that godforsaken green smoke, even Mysterio's voice fades away until he's surrounded by darkness again. Without Beck's voice in his ear, his heartbeat suddenly feels so much louder. With the sudden emptiness, Peter can't help but fall to his knees, gasping for air, his chest heaving. He waits for Beck to come back, to drag him out of this torture, or to finally kill him.

He's craving death, now. Anything to make this stop for good.

"Hey, kid."

There's a hand on his shoulder, and he screams, frantically crawling backwards away from the touch. He keeps his head down, flinching, shaking his head hard. "No, no, no--" he sobs.

"Pete, hey, relax. Look at me."

This time, he looks up, suddenly face to face with Tony Stark. His jaw drops, stammering as he tries to figure out what's going on, but all he can do on a thousand thoughts and feelings rushing to the surface. "Hey, there you go," Tony says. "What's going on, kid?"

"Am I dead?" Peter chokes out.

Tony frowns. "You had a nightmare, Peter. Seemed like a pretty bad one, too."

As soon as Tony speaks, he's suddenly in his room in the Avengers tower, in his pajamas, still in bed. There are bags under Tony's eyes, probably from lack of sleep, but he seems to ignore his exhaustion to focus on Peter. "You kept screaming for someone named Beck," he says, sounding confused. "Is that some other kid at school giving you shit?"

"No," Peter whispers, anxiety bubbling in his chest. "Mr. Stark, what's going on?"

_You died. We saw you die, we had a funeral for you! How can this be real?_

He tries to focus on Mysterio's aura, the one that was so palpable in his illusions, but he can't sense anything, not even a trace. _What?_

"Kiddo, that must've been one helluva nightmare, because it's looking like you're delirious." Tony reaches out and presses his palm to Peter's cheek. "You need some meds? You wanna crash with me for the night? Anything? You're kinda scaring me, here."

Peter doesn't know what's going on. But with the feeling of Tony's hand on his skin, a comforting weight he's needed ever since that final battle, he immediately starts rambling, tears still pouring down his cheeks. "Mr. Stark, i messed up. You - you left EDITH for me, but I thought I wasn't good enough so I gave it to Beck, and he... he's gonna destroy London, he's gonna kill so many people just so people can see him as a hero when he's _not_ and it's all my fault! It was all I had of you and I gave it up to someone who's gonna ruin everything. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry--"

"Woah, woah, hey, Peter, calm down! Buddy, look at me." Tony cradles his face in his hands, waits until Peter meets his eyes to keep talking. "I don't know what's going on in that head of yours, but look, nothing bad happened, alright? We're fine, everything is fine."

He can't stop crying. "I wanted to make you proud, but all I did was making everything worse."

"Yeah, you're definitely delirious," Tony murmurs sadly, pulling Peter into his chest. "Let's go back to bed, huh? You're bunking with me, tonight, kid."

He melts into Tony's embrace, being able to take a deep breath for the first time in what seems like an eternity, since he walked into the trap Mysterio set up for him. He feels Tony's hand on the back of his head, pressing his face into his shoulder, and before he can stop himself he whispers, "I miss you."

Tony chuckles lightly, the sound reverberating in his chest, flowing through Peter, calming all his anxieties. "Well, I'm here now, kid. You don't have to miss me anymore."

Peter closes his eyes and purrs slightly, clinging to the affection, the _love_ he's been needing so badly. If he is dead, if Mysterio really did kill him in that illusion, he decides this is better than going back to the reality where Tony is gone, where he has to face what he's done.

"Peter," Tony begins softly, pulling back slightly, and Peter sits up, confused. "I--"

_BANG!_

Peter gasps, staring at Tony, who's eyes are now clouded with confusion as he looks down, slowly, to see a gunshot wound in his stomach, blood spreading out over his white t-shirt.

"Kid," he whispers, choking on blood, as he falls forward against Peter's chest.

The blood seeps through his clothes, staining his hands, his mind, as he flails, the dead weight threatening to knock him backwards. He shakes Tony hard, his hands covering the wound, a futile attempt to stop the bleeding, but the red just slips through his fingers, and he sobs loudly, choking when he sees Tony's glazed eyes, staring out at nothing. His chest barely moves.

_And suddenly he's fourteen again, in an abandoned alley, kneeling over his uncle Ben with the same wound, sobbing, begging for help, but his pleas fall on deaf ears as he cradles his uncle to his chest, screaming to an empty sky to not do this._

"Tony!" he screams, slipping in all the blood. It's all he can see, now. "Tony, no! No!"

_Not again. Please, not again!_

"Peter!" a voice screams, and he looks up to see that the empty blackness is back, and Tony is standing a few feet away from him, _unharmed,_ and Peter stumbles upright, gasping in shock when he realizes that the Tony that was just shot is gone, every part of what just happened completely erased from existence. He doesn't even stop to try to figure out what just happened - his mind is stuck on _get to Tony,_ and he runs as fast as his legs will carry him.

But when he's only an arm's length away, a shadowy figure appears behind Tony, a long, sharp knife in hand which he immediately plunges into his ~~dad's~~ mentor's back. Tony yells in pain, falling to his knees, and the figure keeps stabbing him, over and over, the silver knife turning red.

"No!" he screams. He tries to run forward but his feet are suddenly concrete blocks, unable to move even an inch forward.

"Peter!" Tony's voice comes back again, this time from behind him, and he twists his head around as much as he can, to see Tony standing in the bombed-out remains of what used to be the Compound, in his suit, but Thanos looms behind him, wearing the gauntlet loaded with all of the infinity stones. He snaps, and Tony's eyes are still on him when he fades into dust, into nothingness.

"Stop," he cries weakly. "Stop this!"

He twists to the side, almost hoping to see Mysterio so he can kill him for what he's done, but instead, he sees a beaten and bruised Tony Stark, kneeling in the rubble, his own infinity gauntlet on his hand. He smirks at Thanos' aghast face before saying, "And I... am... Iron Man."

And he snaps.

Peter watches as he stumbles, collapsing, wheezing, eyes glazed over as the impact of the stones destroy every part of his body. And that's when the concrete blocks vanish and he's able to run forward, kneeling in front of Tony, reaching out like a child, begging to be held. "Mr. Stark?" he chokes out.

Tony looks straight past him, although he's not really _looking_ at anything.

"We won, Mr. Stark," he cries softly. "We won, Mr. Stark."

His fingertips graze Tony's shoulder, and all of a sudden his eyes flash with recognition, with _rage,_ and he barely has time to react before Tony grabs his arm, nails digging into the skin, yanking him to his feet and then throwing him harshly to the ground. When he stands up, his eyes are dark, almost black, and his face is twisted into a disgusted snarl. "Look what you've done," he snaps. "Everything Beck is going to do, it's going to be _all your fault_ and you're gonna go down in history as a disgrace. How could I ever think you'd be an Avenger? You're a _mistake_ , a _freak_ \- you're _nothing_ to me!"

Peter sobs, curling in on himself as Tony spits at him. "No, no, don't say that to me," he cries. "Don't you say that to me!"

Tony scoffs, drawing his foot back to kick Peter in the ribs. The pain is so intense it blinds him for a moment and he coughs up blood. "You're nothing to me," he repeats, and there's so much _hatred_ in his voice that it hurts more than any physical pain. "I should've left you dead."

"Dad," he chokes out, and he's so overwhelmed that he doesn't even notice the word he's used. "I didn't mean--"

"Who cares what you meant?" Tony growls, and it doesn't even _sound_ like him anymore. "You think the world is gonna care what you _meant?_ You think the world is gonna listen to you when Beck has destroyed the world thanks to tech that _you_ gave him? This is _your_ fault!"

"I'm sorry," Peter whispers.

And finally, facing the man he once saw as his father spitting at him in disgust, Peter gives up.

Tony's hand curls into a fist and Peter doesn't even flinch - if this is how Mysterio wants to kill him, by using one of the people he loves the most, then so be it. Anything to make this stop.

He can't fight anymore. He's not strong enough.

_Why did Mr. Stark pick me? He knew I couldn't handle this._

_He made a mistake. He thought I could do this, and I can't, and now the entire world is going to suffer._

_I failed._

When another gunshot rings through the air, Peter doesn't even bother looking up. He waits for the pain to spread through his entire being, to finally end him, but it never comes. But when he sees the darkness change into gravel, he forces himself to his feet to find that he's out of the illusion again, and he almost screams when he sees Beck in front of him, falling to his knees. He's no longer Mysterio - he's in a CGI suit with that damn fish bowl helmet that show his tech on it, like the way EDITH was shown on his glasses. _He's just a guy,_ Peter tries to remind himself.

But with that kind of tech at his fingertips, he might as well be invincible.

He's so focused on Beck that it takes him a moment to see Nick Fury behind him, stumbling forward, a gun in his hand, still smoking from the bullet he's fired.

It was _Beck_ who was shot.

Fury came to his rescue. Somehow, he survived the drone shot from earlier.

It's over. They did it.

Multiple black cars show up, skidding to a halt, SHIELD agents clambering out and surrounding Beck on the ground, all guns pointed straight at him should he try to make a move.

"Fury!" Peter shouts. Everything hurts so bad but he still rushes forward, almost slipping on the loose pebbles.

Fury steps over Beck without a second glance. "Beck's people were trying to find everyone who could expose him." His eye narrows. "Who'd you tell?"

Panicked, Peter stammers through an explanation. How is he supposed to tell _Nick Fury_ that he told other people?

"I know you told someone," Fury says, and anger is starting to sneak into his voice. "So just tell me who did you tell."

"Okay--" Peter is trembling, still trying to make his mouth cooperate because he can't bring himself to speak coherently right now, and it's the _worst time_ for that to happen, with Fury glaring down at him.

"Who else did you tell?!" Fury shouts, and Peter almost jumps out of skin, immediately starting to ramble.

"J-just Ned and MJ from my class!" he exclaims. "Maybe Ned told his girlfriend Betty but that's it."

He expects Fury to explode with rage. Hell, part of him even expects him to use that gun on himself. But what he absolutely _doesn't_ expect is for him to start laughing.

"You... are so dumb," he says, shaking his head.

Peter feels all the blood drain from his face. "What?"

_No, no, no, not again. Please no! Stop!_

"I mean, you're smart as a whip," Fury continues, "just a... sucker."

And then it's no longer Nick Fury standing in front of him - it's Quentin.

_He didn't die. It was another illusion._

_They're never going to stop. It's never going to stop!_

Still in the grey CGI suit, and the glass helmet with EDITH displaying his tech on it, Beck shrugs at what Peter's just told him. "And now all your friends have to die," he says nonchalantly.

Peter stumbles backwards. He can barely keep himself upright anymore. In the blink of an eye, the ground falls out from underneath again and he's taken back down into emptiness, _into the illusion_ but he can still see Quentin, in real life, slowly walking forward. The drones are behind him, green lasers pointing at him, bringing the illusion to life, trapping Peter.

Even though Beck is just out of his reach, in reality, Peter can't drag himself out of the illusion. And seeing freedom so close, but still unreachable, is worse.

He'd rather have the all-consuming blackness again.

But Beck won't give him that.

Peter doesn't even know if he'll let him die now. Maybe even that seems too easy for him.

"Easy to fool people when they're already fooling themselves," Quentin says, and there's no emotion behind his words. He watches Peter carefully as he struggles.

He dodges falling buildings, glass, concrete, anything Beck chooses to throw at him. The green smoke is always there, covering everything, filling Peter's lungs. He coughs harshly, choking on it.

"But for what it's worth, Peter..." Beck hums, and if Peter didn't know better, he would really think he was heartbroken, "I really am sorry."

He is surrounded by giant shards of glass, sharp as knives, and giant, crumbling pieces of concrete, only missing him by inches. He doesn't have the energy to keep running, but he does, somehow avoiding every physical thing Beck attacks him with. Something in him won't let him lay down and admit defeat.

Back in real life, Beck cocks an eyebrow, and faster than he can think, the illusion ends. He flails slightly, and turns to the side--

And the train hits him full-force.

He didn't even see it coming, or _sense_ it.

It keeps going, oblivious to the fact that Peter is barely clinging to the side, his fingers stained with blood. Every single part of him hurts. Summoning every bit of strength he has left, almost screaming out in pain, he pulls himself up to one of the side doors, forces it open, and stumbles down the aisle. The train is dark and empty - part of him wonders if it's one of those automatic trains, without a conductor, but he can't bring himself to dwell on it.

All he can do is collapse into one of the chairs, chest heaving, and rip his mask off. He tries to press a hand to the wound in his stomach, like he can patch it up himself, but he doesn't even have the energy to raise his hand.

His head lolls back and he's lost to darkness.

_When he sees Tony again, he screams._

_Everything is light this time, a stark contrast to the pitch-blackness of Mysterio's illusion. And Tony is standing a few feet away from him, watching him with a sad, broken expression on his face, but his eyes are so full of love, love that Peter doesn't deserve._

_He can't believe this. The last time he believed, he was hit by a fucking train._

_This has to be death, then. Even he couldn't have survived that._

_Tony doesn't move, or say anything. He just watches Peter, who's trembling violently, struggling._

_"This isn't real," he finally manages._

_Tony stares at him. "No," he says slowly, and Peter's heart drops, because now he knows these horrors will never end. Mysterio will keep torturing him, and he won't even get the sweet release of death. "But it's not Mysterio's doing."_

_Peter's head snaps up, staring open-mouthed at Tony. He looks so... casual, in just jeans and an old AC/DC t-shirt. Like he did all those times when he came to the Tower after school to work with him on his suit or any projects they could find, which eventually morphed into Brooklyn Nine-Nine marathons and ordering Chinese. "Then..." Peter's voice shakes. "Tell me something only you would know."_

_That's when Tony smiles kindly. He still doesn't move, though, which Peter is grateful for. He needs to make sure this isn't another illusion before he does anything._

_"After the battle in Germany," he begins quietly, "I came back to the hotel you were staying at before I left to follow Cap. Happy said you'd passed out almost immediately after getting back and he'd just left you alone, but I wanted to make sure you weren't hurt. And I know you said you were fine, but I knew if I just left it at that and you ended up bleeding internally or some shit, your aunt would kill me herself. So I went in there to just scan you over and make sure there weren't any life-threatening injuries, and there weren't, but you were having a nightmare."_

_Peter pales, his knees going weak. He remembers that nightmare._

_"You kept calling out for your uncle," Tony continues. "And... yeah, I didn't know anything about that at the time, but I couldn't just leave you like that. You were tossing and turning and crying... I couldn't just walk away. So I, um..." Tony clears his throat, meets Peter's eyes with so much emotion in his that Peter can almost feel it. "I ended up sitting next to you and tried to calm you down. I was stroking your hair and just whispering to you until you relaxed. It was almost instant, too, but I stayed like that for a while to make sure the nightmare wouldn't come back. I told Happy I had to do a thorough scan to make sure you weren't hiding anything, but that's not true. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."_

_Peter remembers that, too. He remembers that touch, the instant comfort it brought him, but he was in this weird place between dreaming and alertness when it happened, so he just chalked it up to his subconscious trying to calm him down._

_But it was Tony. All along, it was Tony._

_His legs give out, but he barely notices it. He never once looks away from Tony. "Mr. Stark," he whispers._

_It's not Mysterio. It's really him._

_As soon as Peter hits the ground, Tony rushes forward to pull him into his arms, holding him closer than Peter ever thought was possible. He presses his face into Tony's neck and sobs, loud, painful wails wrenching from his throat, soaking Tony's shirt with his tears. His hands anxiously claw at his back, trying to pull himself even closer._

_He shatters._

_Tony bends his head to whisper into Peter's ear, soothing nonsense Peter doesn't even bother trying to decipher. Just his voice is enough. One hand cards through his curls, still matted with blood, and they stay like that for what seems like an eternity... but even an eternity wouldn't be long enough._

_"I gave EDITH to Beck," he cries. "Mr. Stark, I messed up so badly."_

_"Why'd you give them away?" Tony asks, but it's not accusatory - his voice is still as gentle as ever. "I specifically left 'em for you, kiddo."_

_"You said they're for the next Iron Man," Peter says quietly. "And... I'm not. I can't be the next Iron Man. I thought... I thought you gave them to me so I could pass them off to who really deserved them... and I thought Beck was that person." The tears come back, but silently now, slipping down his cheeks as he speaks. "I was so blind."_

_"Ah, I knew I should've phrased that note in some kind of Star Wars reference," Tony says, and despite himself, Peter laughs. "I didn't mean I wanted you to instantly live up to me. You're sixteen, for God's sake. I know you've been through so much shit that you didn't deserve, but you're still just a kid. I didn't give you EDITH because I wanted you to instantly become who I was after years of practice and mistakes and failures. I gave them to you because I wanted you to be your own hero. You are the next generation, but that doesn't mean you have to be a perfect carbon copy of me. I wanted you to be your own version of Iron Man, even if that version is still Spider-Man."_

_Peter shakes his head against Tony's shoulder. "Everyone keeps expecting that, and... it's killing me. I still want to be just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but after Thanos, after the Blip, after... losing you"--he chokes, and Tony rubs his back slowly to help him calm down--"everyone expects me to suddenly be this leader and I'm not. I thought Beck was, so I gave him EDITH. And - and now he's gonna destroy London just to be seen as some kind of hero when he's the one causing this destruction, and he's gonna go after Ned and MJ and everyone in my class... it's all my fault, and I don't know how to fix this."_

_He burrows deeper into Tony's embrace and sighs shakily. "I don't want to go back."_

_He doesn't want to go back to a world where Tony Stark is dead, a world that Beck is about to ruin for some fake glorification, a world where everyone expects him to bear so much weight on his shoulders because he's one of the last heroes left in the public eye._

_"Peter, listen to me." Tony pulls back and Peter whimpers, still clinging to him. It feels safe here, and he hasn't felt really safe in so long. "I left EDITH to you because I knew you could handle it. And even though you messed up, I still believe that. So you're gonna go back, you're gonna find Beck and you're gonna kick his ass."_

_"He has all this tech," Peter protests weakly. "Even if I could get EDITH back, he still created all this tech... it's how he created the Elementals, how he tricked all of us, how he trapped me in that illusion... I can't beat him with all that."_

_"So you beat the tech," Tony says, like it's just that easy. "You know how EDITH works. You take that down first and then you destroy Beck and his plan. Without all his illusion tech, he's just a guy, right? You're the hero, Pete. Not him."_

_"Mr. Stark, you don't get it," Peter says, frustration and anger bubbling to the surface. "This is more than I can beat on my own. I gave him the last piece of his fucked-up puzzle! I caused all this!"_

_"So you fix it! You go out there and be the hero I always saw in you and you save London. Don't let some sadistic fuck in a cape take you down. Peter, I'm living on through you. You don't have to be the next Iron Man if you don't want to, but you always have me to support you. Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I can't help save the world."_

_Peter laughs, remembering what EDITH stands for. Tony Stark really is an icon, even from the grave._

_"You got this," Tony murmurs kindly. "I believe in you, kiddo."_

_Peter smiles at him, but tears fill his eyes once more. "I miss you so much," he whispers, wrapping his arms around Tony's waist._

_Tony presses a kiss to his hair and doesn't say anything, but just the feeling of his arms around him is enough for Peter. They stay like that for a moment longer before Tony slowly moves away, brushing his hand over Peter's cheek._

_"Go on, Spider-Man," he says, beaming. "You got a city to save."_

He wakes up in a Netherlands prison. _Alive._

When Happy comes to get him, he breaks down. Over his mistake, over Mysterio, over Tony.

But when Happy asks him what he's going to do, he remembers what Tony told him, the never-faltering confidence he had in him, and he stands up, despite his multiple injuries.

"I'm gonna kick his ass," he says.

In his head, Tony grins. _That's my boy._

**Author's Note:**

> please leave a review! :)


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